Cellar-draining pump



Oct. 10, 1950 A. POLLAK 2,525,370

CELLAR-DRAINING PUMP Filed Sept. 1, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2.9 jfi Al 1 iI W m .1 M/ J an] 4 a 5 1 6 l3 1 Q0 4- INVENTOR.

' ATTORNEY.

A. POLLAK CELLAR Oct. 10, 1950 DRAINING PUMP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledSept. 1, 1945 ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 10, 1950 CELLAR-DRAINING PUMP Abraham Pollak, Linfield,Pa.

Application September 1, 1945, Serial No. 614,050 I 3 Claims. (Cl. 103

This, invention relates to improvements in cellar-draining pumps.

Pumps of this character are used in connection with suitable sumps. Itis desirable that the maximum proportion of the water collected in thesump be removed, and heretofore, cellardraining pumps have been made ofa large number of pieces or parts; conventional inlet-open ings havebeen provided with strainers and positioned in the bottom of the pumpbeneath the pump-casing, and impellers having vanes eX-- tendingdownwardly have had bearings on the pump casing on opposite sides of theimpeller. The liquid in a sump usually contains a percent age of solidor foreign material that sometimes clogs the strainer and inlet-openingand in a I pump of the bottom-inlet type hereinabove re ferred to, theinlet opening, when clogged, is inaccessible and foreign matter cannotbe removed without dismantling the piping or without lifting the pumpout of its normal position, and, furthermore, in said bottom-inlet typeof pump, operation of the impeller tends to stir up and preventprecipitation of solid matter to the bottom of the sump.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a highly-efficient pump madeof relatively few parts, that will have an inlet in the surface of itsimpeller-housing so that the liquid supply will be taken from asump-strata above the bottom and will not stir up or preventprecipitation of j solid matter; that will not only be much simpler,stronger and more durable than the multi-pieced prior-art pumps butalso, because of its relatively thin flat body, will keep the liquid inthe sump at a low level while enabling the immersing of the pump body inthe liquid of the sump and the positioning of a screened pump-inlet atthe top of the pump casing, where it is less likely to become cloggedthan in other constructions and where, in the event of clogging, is,without any dismantling of the piping, easily accessible for the removalof foreign matter.

Another feature of my invention is the provision in a cellar-drainingpump of a pump body provided with an impeller comprising a disc havingvanes extending upwardly, and a single shaft connected only with theupper surface of said disc and extending upwardly therefrom.

Another feature of my invention comprises the provision in acellar-draining pump of a pump-body made from a single metal-casting andincluding a casing having a volute portion, supporting legs extendingradially from the pumpcasing, and an upwardly-extendingaxial per- =tioncomprising a bearing for the impeller shaft 7 and a housing for inletopenings.

Another feature of my invention is the utilizing of an. impellermounting at the top surface only in which a lower bearing that cannot belubricated by conventional means is eliminated, and the substitution ofbearings so positioned at the top of the pump body as to be readilyaccessible and capable of lubrication by a single conventional greasereservoir connected to a lubricating channel positioned above thepumpcasing adjacent to the inlet.

Still another feature of my invention is the utilizing, in combinationwith an integral upwardly-extending axial portion at the top of thepump-body, including an inlet-housing having inlet-openings,'of a screenmember for encircling the inlet housing and means for fastening thescreen thereto.

. With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises thecombination of members Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of acellardraining pump embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a View in front elevation of the pump" shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the bottom of the pump with the closure-platefor the impeller-housing removed;

Figs. '7 and 3 are top and face views of the switch mechanism, and itsattaching and supporting means; and

Figs. 9 and 10 are complemental illustrative views of the switch and theoperating-arm therefor.

Referringnow to these drawings which illustrate a preferred embodimentof my invention, 1 indicates a pump which, in the embodiment shown,comprises a pump-casing 2, composed of a hollow body in which the topand side casing Walls, the Volute portion 3, the feet 4 and the bottomrim 2 are formed-in one piece. The hollowbody of the casing 2 has anopen bottom to provide an impeller-insertion opening 5 at said bottomand a closure cover 5 is provided for hermetically sealing the saidinsertion opening when the impeller is inserted and properly mounted inthe casing 2, a gasket or sealing ring 5 being inserted between the rim2 and said closure cover 5 In accordance with the preferred form of myinvention, the pump casing 2 has at an axial position above said casinga cylindrical integral portion or member 6 comprising a combined inlethousing 8' and an impeller-bearing block I having a bearing bore T whichis readily accessible and adapted to be easily lubricated by a suitablegrease reservoir 8 communicating with said bearing bore '1 through agrease-bore S' in said block.

In the embodiment shown, the said integral axial portion 6 is alsoprovided with a tapped socket 9 for the reception and fastening of thethreaded lower end of a shaft-enclosing column Hi, which also has amotor-supporting function.

An impeller i i is inserted through the opening 5 and is enclosed withinthe casing. The said impeller IE is also preferably cast in a singlepiece embodying an impeller disc H vanes II extending upwardly therefromand an axial hub li -also extending upwardly therefrom. A shaft 42 ismounted in the lubricated bearing bore i hereinabove referred to and hasits lower end extending within and connected to said hub H As shown, Iconnect the impeller hub and shaft by tapping the hub li and threadinthe end of the shaft E2 to engage said tapped hub 1 1. The column It,thus connected to the integral axially disposed cylindrical portion 6,extends upwardly a suitable distance and encloses the impeller shaft l2,to the upper end of which shaft a suitable motor IB is operativelyconnectet As illustrated, the disc of the impeller is provided with aseries of perforations l I as shown in Fig. 6, and as the bottom surfacei l of the impeller l i is spaced, as shown in Fig. 5, from the closurecover 5 these perforations permit liquid to pass through the impellerand to provide liquid on opposite sides thereof.

Electric motors used in horizontal position on various householdappliances are conventional and relatively inexpensive, and I preferablyadapt one of such motors for use in vertical position in mycellar-draining pump. This is accomplished by removing one of theconventional resilient mounting rings at one end of the motor andutilizing the annular supporting flange of such mounting in verticalposition as a means of locating and supporting the motor in axialregistration with the impeller-shaft i 2 and column Ii].

As illustrated, the motor-shaft i3 and the upper end of the impellershaft 12 are connected together by a coupling element [4 and the shellor housing W of the motor and its shaft l3 are axially-supported on thetop of the column I 3 by providing at the upper end of the column anadapter sleeve w having at its upper end a split mounting member iBwhich engages a stationary annular motor-mounting flange 13 on the motorshell orhousing W. The adaptor-sleeve i is provided with a suitableopening 40 to provide a suitable frame and support for the motor switchand its mounting and operating means hereinafter specified.

Suitable means is provided for automatically actuating the motor uponthe filling with liquid of the sump and, for this purpose, aconventional switch I for the motor is mounted on the column IE] inposition to be actuated by actuating means hereinafter specified. Asillustrated, the switch I5 is fitted in a switch-supporting casin 15fitted into the adaptor-sleeve opening Ill and fastened to the column bybracket-wings W. The switch has a conventional operating lever-arm l6,and I provide therefor an actuating fork l'l pivoted at N to theopposite sides of the switch casing [5 and connected to saidconventional switch lever-arm [6 by the provision in the fork ll of asocket li into which the outer end of the switch lever-arm is seated. Inow provide automatic means for swinging this fork I! about its pivotsto throw the switch into operative and inoperative positions,respectively, for the purpose of starting and stopping the motor.

My preferred means for so operating the switch l5 comprises a verticaloperating rod i8 passing through an aperture 11 in the fort: i? andsuitably arranged between stop members l8 l8 on the rod 58. The rod isslidably mounted intermediate its ends at the outer bored end of aprojecting supporting arm iil integral with a ring l9, fastened on thecolumn iii. The rod It has at its lower end a float 28 which extendsinto the liquid in the sump and through its buoyancy will move themounting rod l8 upwardly and the lower member of the stops [S -l3 at itsupper end will raise the forl; H to throw the switch when such waterrises in the sump to a predetermined level. Reversely, when the pump hasreduced the water in the sump to a suitable level, the upper stop memberl8 will engage the fork H to move the switch arm in the oppositedirection to stop the motor. An adjustable movemen limiting stop it isfastened on the rod 53 above the supportin arm 9 to position the floatand prevent excessive downward movement of the switch-actuating rod 13and float 20.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I provide a closure or coverwhich hermetically seals the bottom of the casing which is relativelythin or shallow in depth so that liquid in the sump will overflow thetop of the casing in order to enter the dual inlet-openings which arescreened by a cylindrical screen 2| which surrounds the integral inlethousing 6 and is fastened in place preferably by the grease reservoir 8.

In the embodiment shown I provide a cap or hood member 22 for the upperend of the motor, which also comprises the upper end of mycellardraining pump. This cap is provided with a central circularopening which fits over and engages a conventional mounting ring 23which is conventionally found on motors and is usually composed ofresilient material. The cap will thus be securely held in place on thismotor mounting element.

The operation of the device will be substantially obvious from the abovedescription. It will be seen, however, that applicants pump body or pumpcasing v ill be completely immersed in the liquid of the sump; that thefeet will rest on the bottom of the sump and that because of the shallowdepth of the pump-casing the inlet of the pump will be low enough toreach liquid relatively close to the bottom of the sump; that thisconstruction, therefore, will not stir up mud or other foreign matterbut will take relatively clear liquid. Furthermore, if the inlet of thepump becomes clogged it will be readily accessible for cleansing by theuser without the dismantling of the outlet piping or other parts of theinstallation.

It will be seen from the above that I have provided an extremely simple,highly durable pump construction which, because of the inclusion in asingle casting of the volute, the pump-casing with its axial memberhaving an inlet housing, bearing block and column socket, as well as theintegral feet or supporting elements, will enable manufacture of thedevice at an economical cost and will provide structural characteristicsthat will have much greater and durable qualities than similar devicesheretofore manufactured, and also is of such simple construction andoperation that once installed will remain in proper operation and willnot get out of order or be easily broken.

My improved construction furthermore enables the parts which are likelyto get out of order to be readily demounted so as to enable renewalthereof. The accessibility of the single bearing of the impeller shaftfor ready lubrication (which cannot be accomplished in constructions inwhich the inlet aperture is at the bottom of the pump casing) alsopromotes facile fully-lubricated operation of the pump.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A cellar-draining pump embodying, in combination, an impeller havinga fiat upper face provided with vanes, an impeller shaft, a pumpcasingforming a primary bearing-support for said impeller-shaft and having anintegral annu lar inlet-housing portion provided with side openingsabove said impeller face for the admission to the casing of water, a,primary shaft-bearing in said annular housing comprising animpellershaft bearing-block portion extending diametrically across andvertically therethrough in opposition to said side openings and providedwith an impeller-shaft-bore disposed at a right angle to the upper faceof the impeller, said block having at its upper end a thrust-bearingsurface, a collar on said shaft having a bearing against saidthrust-bearing surface, said inlet housing portion also being providedwith a column-mounting socket disposed concentrically with said shaftbore, a cylindrical shaft-enclosing column supported in said socket, asingle auxiliary bearingsupport disposed at the upper end of saidcolumn, a motor provided with a shaft-bearing supported on saidauxiliary support and having a drive shaft extending concentrically ofsaid impeller shaft, and a coupling element connecting said impeller andmotor shafts together.

2. A cellar-draining pump embodying, in combination, a pump casingembodying a relatively wide and shallow impeller housing having an openbottom and partially enclosed by outer and top walls formed respectivelyof a short perimetric 6', rim flange and a wide, flat and horizontallypositioned ring-like portion having an axial open-- ing, saidpump-casing also including a relatively slender inlet housing disposedcentrally above said axial opening in said fiat ring-like horizontallypositioned portion and communicating through said axial opening with theimpeller housing, said inlet housing having side waterinlet openingspositioned over said shallow impeller housing and at a low position onthe pump, said inlet housing also being provided with a shaft-supportingbearing-block extending diametrically across said inlet housing in thepath of admitted water, said bearing block being provided with an axialbore, an impeller comprising a substantially flat disc mounted in saidimpeller housing and having shallow vanes, an impeller shaft having itslower end connected to said impeller disc at the axis thereof andextending through the axial bore in said bearing block, a a

motor connected with said impeller shaft for rotating said impeller insaid shallow housing, and a flat closure plate for the open bottom ofsaid impeller housing.

3. A cellar draining pump as claimed in claim 2 in which a volutesection is provided in the top wall of the impeller housing between saidrimflange and the flat ring-like wall portion of said impeller housing,and pump-supporting feet are provided which project radially from theperimetric rim flange in a horizontal plane substantially registeringwith the bottom edge of said rim flange to increase the area of supportof the pump while maintaining the shallowness of the impeller housingand the lowness of the inlet openings over the same.

ABRAHAM POLLAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,586,586 Swett et a1 June 1,1926 1,801,103 Mummert Apr. 14, 1931 1,812,874 Hedglon July 7, 19311,883,266 Yoder Oct. 18, 1932 1,891,201 Hoff Dec. 13, 1932 1,909,578Franke May 16, 1933 1,942,570 Reed Jan. 9, 1934 1,960,659 Burks May 29,1934 2,018,092 Rickert Oct. 22, 1935 2,149,600 Guinard Mar. '7, 1939Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,525,370 October 10,1950

ABRAHAM POLLAK It is hereby certified that error appears in the printedspecification of the above numbered patent requiring correction asfollows:

Column 1, line 28, before the word surface insert top;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, sothat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOffice.

Signed and sealed this 19th day of December, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant C'ommz'ssz'oner of Patents.

Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,525,370 October 10,1950

ABRAHAM POLLAK It is hereby certified that error appears in the printedspecification of the above numbered patent requiring correction asfollows:

Column 1, line 28, before the Word surface insert top;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, sothat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOfiice.

Signed and sealed this 19th day of December, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURP Y,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

